Greater New Orleans

Council looks to lower property taxes

By Matt Scallan River Parishes bureau
Just as 2007 tax bills, some with hefty increases, begin to arrive in property owners' mailboxes, the St. Charles Parish Council will consider an ordinance to decrease 2008 taxes by 3 mills.

But if the current council passes the measure Monday, it may be little more than an expression of opinion by departing parish leaders than something that actually would lower tax bills.

That's because the tax rate for 2008 can be set legally only after the state legislative auditor certifies the tax roll in late August or early September.

Parish Councilman Ganesier "Ram" Ramchandran, who is proposing the rollback, voted against the motion to set the parish's current property tax rate of 27.18 mills in August 2007. He said the parish shouldn't get a windfall from rising property values, which will generate $920,000 for each mill of property tax for 2007, up from $855,000 for parish taxing bodies.

Proceeds from the 2007 tax finance the parish's budget for 2008. If the next council adopts Ramchandran's idea, the impact would be felt in 2009.

Ramchandran's ordinance would lower the 2008 property taxes for road maintenance from 5.96 mills to 4.46 mills, mosquito control from 1.1 mills to .09 mills and road lighting from 2.61 mills to 1.31 mills.

But Parish Assessor Clyde "Rock" Gisclair said Ramchandran's ordinance will have no effect.

"I would love to see them lower taxes by 3 mills, but I don't know that they can do it this way unless the next council goes along," Gisclair said. "The way I understand state law, they can't set the millage until the legislative auditor certifies the roll."

The certification measures whether the parish will collect the same amount of revenue given the increase or decrease in the value of the tax roll.

Joy Irwin, a staff member in the legislative auditor's advisory section, called the council measure "an exercise in futility."

"We have to certify the tax roll before they change the millage, especially in a reassessment year," Irwin said. "You have to jump through even more hoops this year than you would otherwise."

A mill, or one-thousandth of a dollar, is the rate at which property is taxed.

An owner-occupied home assessed at $200,000 would pay $339.75 to the parish based on the current property tax rate. If the parish's property taxes were reduced by 3 mills, the tax bill would drop to $302.25. A business assessed at $750,000 would see its tax bill drop from $3,057.75 to $2,720.

Homes are taxed at 10 percent of their assessed value. Businesses are taxed at 15 percent.

Gisclair said the reappraisal ordered by the state Tax Commission has caused some grumbling from residents when they see their tax bills.

"People want us to appraise them at $40 or $50 a square foot, but that's not realistic anymore. It costs $100 a square foot to build a house these days."

Most people, he said, don't complain about the assessments: "They're not happy about them, but they pay it."

Irwin said that once the legislative auditor's office gives the nod to the tax roll, it sends a notice to each taxing body telling it what level of tax is needed to maintain the previous year's revenue. Taxing bodies are required to roll back the property tax to that level, but are then allowed to "roll forward" the rate up to the previous level or less with a two-thirds vote of the governing body.

Ramchandran said he may have gotten bad advice from Gisclair about the matter. In August, the councilman tried to introduce an ordinance to reduce taxes by 3 mills, but the council took the unusual step of refusing the introduction, saying Ramchandran did not specify which taxes.

"He's the one who told me to wait and adopt something that would take effect in 2008," Ramchandran said of Gisclair.

Gisclair said he thinks Ramchandran misunderstood his advice.

Ramchandran, who could have run for re-election for his Destrehan seat but mounted an unsuccessful bid for state representative instead, said Tuesday that even if the council votes down the measure, he will continue to push the issue.

"I'm going to be at the meetings to work for this, even though I won't be in office," he said.

Matt Scallan can be reached at mscallan@timespicayune.com or (985)¤652-0953.